Posts Tagged ‘Sussex’

With the weather ever improving there’s plenty of sports weekends in Sussex coming up. So instead of booking a Brighton B&B and just visiting Brighton for its shopping and clubbing, make it a base for more active weekends.

In Brighton we play all year round Photo: Flickr/garynight

Here’s a look ahead to what the county has on offer:

Brighton and Hove is hosting the annual Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile Event. So get the family involved, get a cheap weekend in Brighton booked and do your bit by the seaside. The run takes place on Sunday 24th March on Madeira Drive and you can register at sportrelief.com

In April there’ll be thousands of people putting in the miles in the Brighton Marathon. Places are still available – if you’ve a last minute fancy for 26 and a bit miles…

Cyclists not prepared to wait till the London to Brighton can get their wheels spinning through the night on the BHF Night Ride. It’s an over-nighter, so you can either book a Brighton B&B and make a weekend of it or go back on the train after a full English to finish. You could always cycle back – you may laugh, someone will do it!

Third week in June is the main London to Brighton bike ride. Expect there to be 27,000 other riders taking part. If you’ve not done it before, you really should.

And to get the summer of sport going there’s the annual Take Part Festival in Preston Park where you can try out all sorts of new sports.

That’s the main sports weekends in Sussex, but there are hundreds more activities you could do on a weekend in Brighton: Zorbing on the South Downs, sailing classes off the beach and at the Marina, and some wakeboarding and kitesurfing at Hove Lagoon.

And you’ll still get to go shopping in Brighton – I don’t care how fit you say you are, or how tight your cycling pants are. Once it’s all over you’re still wanting to get away from work, get a weekend break and get to the beach. And if you can’t fit in any sport, so what. Come down anyway. Brighton is just waking up from its winter hybernation and it’s definitly the place to be when the sun’s shining

And we’ve got two sets of beach volleyball courts. People were playing on them over the weekend – in February!

Planning on visiting Brighton UK this year, you’ll be looking for those traditional British attractions. And as much as we like to avoid stereotypes around these parts, there’s no doubting the south coast has its fair share of Britishness for visitors from Europe to enjoy.

A weekend in Brighton is just enough time to pass some of the finest English houses and architectural styles you can find. There was a surge in house building during the reign of George IV and these regency styles continued to be popular long after he died. Local firm Wilds & Busby built much of Kemp Town and Brunswick Town. And all around these are lesser streets copying the familiar regency style terraces and squares. Check out Brunswick Square and walk east from our Brighton B&B towards the marina – you’ll find many others.

As the summer has decided to grant us one more flourish, it could be the last time for us mere mortals to grab a weekend in Brighton and take to the water before the warmth leaves our Sussex skies.

Here’s 5 watersports offered in Brighton.

Swimming

Easy! Provided you can swim. Temperatures are pushing well into the 20s so it’s a great chance to get in one more dip. Here’s a Brighton beach guide and here some obvious advice to follow from the RNLI but generally you’re fine just leisure swimming off most parts of Brighton beach.

Boat trips

Visiting with the family? Take them to the marina and look up the boat trips. There’s no better way to watch the sunset than from a boat.

SUP for hire in Brighton. Image: Flickr/dcysurfer

Canoeing, Kayaking and Oddboarding

There’s a school/surf shop worth investigating if you’re after an active family weekend in Brighton. Take a look at the range of things to do at Brighton Watersports- if you’re wondering what the deal is with standing up on a surfboard, it’s actually Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) and the school does 2-hr lessons for £30.

Dingy sailing

Get yourself to Lagoon Watersports if you want to learn how to sail. In fact, it has courses in just about everything and beginners get to practice on the calm waters of Hove lagoon.

Jet ski

Fancy hitting the water with a little more power than that fond in the wind? Hire a jetski at Sussex Marine Watersports down the coast in Southwick. They’ll even escort you out to sea so you can get the hang of it.